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| Courtesy Southwest Airlines |
ATLANTA — Southwest Airlines isn’t yet in the Atlanta market, but already it’s expanding its service.
Last month, the low-cost carrier said it will start service to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Feb. 12, flying to 15 cities from Atlanta, including Chicago Midway; Austin, Texas; and Denver. On Monday, the airline said it was adding daily nonstop flights from Atlanta to Phoenix and Las Vegas to the schedule.
“An expansion like this quickly solidifies our commitment to the Atlanta market before we’ve actually started service there,” Bob Jordan, Southwest Airlines’ executive vice president of strategy and planning and president of AirTran Airways, said in a news release. “We are proud to showcase our robust route map connecting the Atlanta market to more than 50 Southwest cities.”
Last September, Southwest, which does not currently serve Atlanta, announced it was buying AirTran Airways for $1.4 billion. The combined airline’s operations are expected to be fully merged by 2012, officials previously said.
Dallas-based Southwest currently serves more than 70 cities, all in the United States. AirTran, based in Orlando, Fla., currently serves more than 65 cities in the United States, the Caribbean and Mexico.
